Or maybe a mother bear. I imagine they can seem predatory :-) but even that, not always.
At our cabin community in the Sierras some rotten kids were throwing rocks at 2 Cubs in a tree. The mother stashed them there so she could go foraging. Well she came back. Most of us were half hoping she would attack them, but not really, then it would be the end of her and the babies. I actually never saw it, there was an eye witness walking by and that’s why he didn’t have a chance to give those kids a thrashing.
But the mama bear climbed up in the tree and put her arms around her babies to protect them. So that she would take the rocks instead of them.
The kids were very lucky the mother didn’t attack. Mighta been a young inexperienced mother that didn’t have enough nerve to attack, or at least bluff charge.
I had a bear huffing and clamping its jaws making a sound at me once, it was over a small hill where I couldn’t see it. I was al out back to the car from a hike a round a pond at the time. It Was unnerving to say the least.
A vriends of mine was out hunting, and sat down to rest y a large tree. He said he heard the same thing, chomping, clapping the teeth together that bears do, and couldn’t tell where it was coming from. He got up, walked around the tree, and there was a hollow in the tree and a bear Inside. Thankfully nothing happened. He backed away slow, and then got out of the area lol. Too close for comfort
You NEVER get between a mama bear and her cubs.
One time, my husband went hunting and our children, 3 and 5 at the time, were playing behind me, sitting in the driver’s seat. I had opened the door.
I decided to get closer to the kids and backed up, forgetting about the door.
The door smashed into a tree and got crumpled a bit.
So we were leaving; all of a sudden this little black creature came out of the woods. “How cute!” It looked just like our black lab.
We were going slowly.
Then a much larger black creature came out and my husband floored it. LOL!
After all, she was headed to us and we couldn’t even close the door all the way!